Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1981

The Swedish Final, Melodifestivalen 1981, was held on February 21 at the Cirkus in Stockholm, hosted by Janne Carlsson. The winning song was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries.

After a tight race, the winner was a song called Fångad i en dröm, which was performed by Björn Skifs. Björn wrote the song together with Bengt Palmers.

5th, and last, came Kicki Moberg with the song Men natten är vår, written by Agnetha Fältskog and Ingela "Pling" Forsman.

Results:

01. Fångad i en dröm - Björn Skifs, 59 points
02. God morgon - Sweets 'n' Chips, 57 points
03. Rock 'n' Roll Mountain - Janne Lucas Persson, 50 points
04. Det är mitt liv - Anders glenmark, 41 points
05. Men natten är vår - Kicki Moberg, 28 points

At the ESC Sweden came 10th with 50 points.

***

Björn Nils Olof Skifs (born 20 April 1947 in Vansbro, Dalarna, Sweden) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter.

Björn Skifs formed his first musical group Slam Creepers’ in 1963. Slam Creepers’ split in 1969 and he went on to form a new band, Blåblus, in 1972. As Blue Swede, the band had a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 with a cover of Hooked on a Feeling. Björn Skifs left the band in 1976 to pursue a solo career. He recorded the duet Med varann with Anni-Frid Lyngstad for his 1975 album Schiffz.

Björn  Skifs appeared as The Arbiter on the original studio album for Chess, released in 1984. A single and video, The Arbiter's Song was released in 1985. Skifs also recorded several demos for the album, including One Night in Bangkok, later performed by Murray Head. Skifs did not perform the role on stage; in the original London production the character was played by Tom Jobe.

Povel Ramel gave Björn  Skifs the Karamelodiktstipendiet in 1984.

Björn Skifs represented Sweden twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, both in the 1978 contest and in the 1981 contest. In 1978 he came 14th with the song Det blir alltid värre framåt natten and in 1981 he came 10th with Fångad i en dröm. In 2000 he hosted Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Björn Skifs participated 4 times at Melodifestivalen:

1972: Andra kan väl också se, 9th
1975: Michelangelo, 5th
1978: Det blir alltid värre framåt natten, 1st
1981: Fångad i en dröm, 1st

In 2002 he had a major hit with the song Håll Mitt Hjärta which is a Swedish version of André de Lang's song Same Ol' Story. It stayed on Svensktoppen between 27 April 2003 and 8 January 2006 for a total of 142 weeks.